Maybe using the phrase "full of crap" went too far, but I did have
something in mind.
Reading the history of how the Koran, sunnah and hadiths were
codified, it's clear that the vast majority of the texts were provided
by pious men, some were provided by ideological politicians, and some
were provided by nutcases. Furthermore, even today the texts can be
interpreted by pious men, by politicians, and by nutcases. I'm not
going to venture into the subject of which is which, since that's for
Islamic scholars to do, but only to make the general point that if
someone wants to justify strapping a bomb onto a 10-year-old kid and
send him into a crowded marketplace to blow himself up, then he can
find a nutcase text and nutcase interpretation to support him.
There are many Islamic scholars today who say that the justifications
that al-Qaeda and ISIS are using are completely wrong. The fact that
Islamic scholars say this says to me that the justifications that the
jihadists are using really are full of crap.
Let's take an example from the Bible that's less explosive (both
literally and figuratively).
> Thou shalt not have strange gods before me. Thou shalt not make to
> thyself a graven thing, nor the likeness of any thing that is in
> heaven above, or in the earth beneath, nor of those things that
> are in the waters under the earth. Thou shalt not adore them, nor
> serve them (Exodus 20:3-5).
This text was used by the iconclasts in the 700s to go into
churches and destroy pictures, statutes, or any other "graven
image" of Jesus, or a saint, or an angel, or anything else.
This was further supported by the story of the Golden Calf
in Exodus 32:1-6.
As I read the text above, there's really no ambiguity. The clear
meaning is that the iconoclasts have it exactly right -- that the
Bible forbids making any pictures or statues or graven images that
might in any way be construed as religious. And yet, we know that
there are Christian scholars who would say that the clear text does
not really mean what it says -- perhaps other texts phrase it
differently or perhaps words like "adore" and "serve" can mean lots of
different things.
So, if someone went into a church today and started destroying icons,
I would call that person a nutcase, and if he quotes the above
Biblical text as justification, I would call him "full of crap."
So that's what I meant when I said that jihadists quoting the Koran to
justify terror acts as being full of crap.
Eastern Orthodox icon 'Christ's Descent into Hades'. Unlike
Muslims, who forbid the depiction of Mohammed, Orthodox Churches are
adorned with many such icons and monuments.
** 20-Jun-16 World View -- Historic Orthodox Christian gathering in Crete exposes sharp divisions
** http://www.generationaldynamics.com/pg/ ... tm#e160620